


March Into My Heart

by mrspocksbangs



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Rated For Violence, Slow Burn, Star Trek: AOS, and references to abuse, mckirk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrspocksbangs/pseuds/mrspocksbangs
Summary: Sorry for the stupid ass title
ANYWAYS Jim Kirk is new to Riverside from Georgia (I switched it, I know, but I live in Missouri which is like p much Iowa so I thought it would be easier to write abt??) and he joins the school's marching band, where he plays clarinet (for no reason other than that I play clarinet and I'm familiar w it lmao) and he meets the clarinet section leader, Leo McCoy. They become Best Friends and well,,
You can guess the rest............ (or read the rest) (sorry im bad at summaries)





	1. Chapter 1

Leo McCoy was ambitious. It was a well-known fact he wanted to be doctor, that he got straight-A's, all his teachers liked him, and above all else, he was section leader of the clarinets in the high school marching band.

  
It sounded nerdy, even to Leo it sounded nerdy, but he was proud of himself and he took it very seriously. Marching band was what would get him into college, most likely. So, of course he took it seriously.

  
He probably didn't have a single friend who wasn't in marching band. There was Nyota, who also took it quite seriously and who played the flute but became drum major their junior year. Then there was her boyfriend, who everyone referred to as his last name Spock, and Leo wasn't too sure how to say his first name. He played percussion.

  
Hikaru Sulu, a clarinet player, was a close friend of Leo's. Sulu's best friend, and by association a friend of Leo's, was Pavel who played the trumpet. Christine Chapel had been a friend of Leo's since they were little and she was captain of colorguard. Finally, there was Montgomery Scott who everyone called Scotty because of his name and accent. He played trombone.

  
Leo was known to be something of a grump, although he didn't think he was one. He thought he was simply serious, but surely not a grump. Despite this, he was actually generally happy with his life; he was being offered scholarships, he had a group of friends, things couldn't be better than that.

  
+

  
"Leo!" The director, Mr. Pike, caught up with Leo, Hikaru, and Pavel as they walked to the practice field.

  
"Yessir?" Leo responded.

  
"Just wanted to let you know, there's gonna be someone new in your section-" Leo raised an eyebrow, ready to protest when Mr. Pike raised a hand to stop him "-I know, I know. We've learned pretty much the whole show, our first competition is coming up, I know it's gonna be hard. He's a new kid to the school and I would have told him to wait till next season, but... the kid's actually pretty good. He'll just need some help catching up."

  
Leo sighed. Mr. Pike sighed too, "I know, it'll be tough. But you can do it, cantcha?"

  
Leo hesitated before nodding, "Yessir, I can."

  
Mr. Pike smiled. "Thanks, Leo," he said, before walking off to get ready for practice as they reached the field.

  
Leo, Hikaru, and Pavel sat on a bench before practice really started.

  
"Hm," Hikaru looked curiously at Leo, "wonder who this new guy is. I mean, if he's really that good..."

  
Leo grimaced. "Hope he doesn't think he's competition. Section leader position is mine till next year."

  
Pavel chuckled. "I don't think you vill have to worry about that. Nobody's gonna try harder than you for that position."

  
Hikaru laughed with Pavel and Leo raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if you'd get a little more dedicated, you'd actually learn the music."

  
"I know the music!" Pavel protested, "I just don't know the last movement."

  
"My point," Leo said.

  
"Alright!" Mr. Pike called, "On the field, in block for warm-ups!"

 

+

  
Leo, Nyota, and Spock all went to Leo's house after practice to do homework. This happened frequently as they all took most of the questions and found it helpful to have each other to work with.

 

Leo's mother, Eleanora, offered everyone something to drink but they all declined and headed to Leo's room.

  
"So did you hear?" Leo said once they were all situated.

  
"No, what?" Nyota asked.

  
"Apparently there's gonna be some new guy in the clarinet section. According to Pike, he's really good."

  
"Does this concern you?" Spock asked.

  
Leo hesitated. "I...no...maybe a little. I mean, what if he wants my spot as section leader next year?"

  
Nyota laughed. "You're worried about that? Sorry, but I think you've got it pretty secure."

  
"Really?"

  
"Yeah, definitely. Pike loves you, I don't think he's looking to replace you."

  
Leo felt relieved.

  
"Anyway," Nyota started changing the subject, "What happened to you and that one girl? Ah...what was her name? J something..."

  
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Jocelyn. Her name was Jocelyn. And," Leo looked down at his books, "we broke up. Last week."

  
"Oh..." Nyota sounded regretful, "Sorry...was it bad?"

  
"Well...we didn't date for long. Six months isn't long, is it?" Leo asked pitifully. He didn't understand why he was sad when all they ever did was fight and he wanted to break up with her for two of the six months. He guessed he just got used to it and it felt odd being without her.

  
"Well, she wasn't worth it anyways. She was always so bad to you, I never understood why you dated her."

  
Leo shook his head. "I don't understand either."

  
"Nyota?" Spock piped up suddenly, "What did you get for number twenty two?"

  
+

  
After Spock and Nyota left, Leo had nothing left to distract him. He knew it was dumb, but he couldn't help but feel anxious about a new guy who Pike thought was so good. He was the best player in the section, he wouldn't have that taken away from him.

  
He sat on his bedroom's windowsill couch and looked out at the street below. A few kids were still playing although it was getting dark, including Leo's little sister Joanna. Her curfew was to come in when the street lights came on, which wouldn't be for a little while.

  
Leo watched her and remembered how not too long ago, he was just like her. He used to be a lot more carefree, before their father died of some unknown disease. He used to just relax and play and read, but his father died when he was twelve and Joanna was two. He hadn't really ever gotten over it, they were close. They used to go fishing and read together and watch movies.

  
After he died, though, there was a notable shift in his demeanor. Maybe he had become grumpy but mostly he'd become a lot more uptight and closed off. He didn't really like to open up to people, which is what got in the way of his and Jocelyn's relationship. She claimed she didn't feel like she knew him at all. He couldn't defend himself because he knew she was right.

  
So lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice when a car pulled into the house across the street. It had been for sale for months although Leo didn't remember it having a SOLD sign on it. He didn't pay much attention, though, so he wasn't too surprised he didn't notice.

  
The car was followed by a moving van. Leo watched as the van pulled into the driveway and had made the sudden connection that his new neighbor must be the new kid in school. He watched to see if anyone his age would emerge from the car or van.

  
A young looking woman came out of the driver's side of the car. Then, a tired-looking man climbed out of the van. Leo assumed they were husband and wife. The man came over to the car after talking to the woman a while and looked in the passenger's side. He knocked on the window until it rolled down.

  
He and whoever was in the passenger's side conversed for a long time. The man looked angry but like he was trying to control it and like he was trying to convince the passenger of something. Leo was sure if he opened his window, he could hear what the man was saying. He almost did it, but felt guilty for eavesdropping.

  
After a long time, the man stepped back and a boy emerged from the car. He was young, definitely high school aged, and he had golden blond hair. Leo squinted to get a better look but it was hard to see all the way across the street.

  
He continued to watch the family unpack things from the car and van when another car came and parked alongside the street. Another boy came out of it--Leo guessed he was the older son because he looked about college age. He went inside and nobody came out for a while. Leo wondered if they were ever going to come back out when all of them filed out of the garage door and back to the van. Then, they continued their unpacking.

  
There were boxes upon boxes and furniture which the man yelled at the boys to carry. Well, Leo guessed he yelled by his body language and the way the younger boy flinched.  
Leo was so engrossed in what was going on across the street that he jumped when his door opened. He turned quickly, as if guilty of something, when Jo came in.  
"Hey Leo! Dinner's ready. Mom says she sorry it's late, she had paperwork or something." Jo said.

  
Leo smiled. "Ah, it's alright. Tell her I'll be in there soon." He turned back to look out the window to see that the older boy was arguing with the man. The other boy and woman must have been inside.

 

Jo came over to see what Leo was looking at. "Are you watching them?"

  
Leo blushed a little. "Er--no," he tried to lie but could see Jo was taking none of it. "Well... yeah, just out of curiosity. Mr. Pike said we were getting a new clarinet player. I think the boy moving in over there is who he was talking about."

  
Jo snickered. "Oookayyy...I'm gonna go eat now." She skipped out of the room.

  
Leo shook his head and looked out the window again. The boy and man were still arguing. Leo felt like he was intruding, but he couldn't help but feed his curiosity.  
The argument was getting more and more heated when the woman came back out of the house and ended it. The boy stomped off back inside and the man and woman talked for a while. She was calming him down.

  
When he started breathing normally again, she got into the car and the man got back into the van. Leo assumed they were going to return the van to the company they rented it from. The both pulled out and left. Leo looked out a little longer to see if anything else would happen but nothing did so he got up to go eat dinner.

  
He sat down at the table where his food already sat. Jo and Eleanora were digging in. Eleanora smiled at Leo.

  
"Didn't know you were a people watcher, Leonard."

  
Leo grimaced. "I'm not, I was just curious is all. Didn't even know the house was sold."

  
"It's had its SOLD sign up for some time, dear. You oughtta be more observational."

  
Leo shrugged.

  
"Joanna tells me the new boy is gonna be a new addition to the clarinet section."

 

"Well, I think so. Pike told me about a new kid, I'm assuming it's this guy. According to Pike he's really good. Weird family, though."

  
Eleanora looked at her son disapprovingly. "You really shouldn't be so judgmental, honey."

  
"I'm not, I just mean they fight a lot. Looked like they already had two or three arguments just now. The younger boy didn't fight back very much, though, but there was an older boy who did. Couldn't imagine living like that."

 

"Well, it's their life, not ours to judge. Every family has its problems."

  
Leo nodded in agreement. He finished his dinner in silence as Eleanora and Jo talked about Jo's day and then he went to get ready for bed.

  
Before he got into bed, he looked out the window again. The car was back and the lights in the house were all off. Leo decided he'd done enough snooping for one night and went to bed. His dreams were anxious. They were all about some blond boy stealing his established spot in marching band.

  
+

  
The next day, Leo sat in his car before school. He hadn't even left his driveway yet and it was still kind of dark out. He was tired, his sleep was restless. He had a test that day, so he looked over the notes while he tried to wake himself up.

  
Something caught his eye int he rear view mirror. He looked through it to see the older boy from last night walking up his driveway. Leo raised and eyebrow as the boy came closer turned his head when he came up to the window. He rolled it down.

  
"Hello?" He knew he sounded rude, but mostly he was confused.

  
"Hey, I'm Sam Kirk, I just moved in across the street." The boy, Sam, motioned to his house.

  
"I'm Leo McCoy," Leo introduced himself, shaking Sam's hand.

  
"Nice to meet you," Sam's voice was soft, "Er-you go to the high school here, right?"

  
"I do."

  
"Okay, my brother Jim is over there, by my car," He pointed across the street and Leo turned around to look at the blond boy. He was avoiding looking over but Leo noted the clarinet case in his hand.

  
Sam continued. "I've gotta take him to school but I have no idea how to get there. Would you show us the way? We'll just follow you."  
"Oh, sure, it wouldn't be a problem at all! You ready to go now?"

  
"Yes, we are. Thanks a lot!" Sam smiled at Leo. He walked back to his own car and Leo watched the two get in. He waited for Sam to start his engine before pulling out.

  
Sam followed him all the way to the high school. Leo pulled into his assigned parking spot and Sam pulled into the one next to him. He let Jim out and thanked Leo again before pulling out to leave.

  
"Hey," Leo walked around his car to Jim, "I'm Leo."

  
"Jim Kirk," Jim said, smiling wide. Leo noticed a faint scar on his chin as he came closer to the boy. He tried not to look at it.

  
Leo shook his hand. "You're in band?" Leo motioned to his clarinet.

  
"Yeah, I play clarinet. The director here, Mr. Pike? He said I could join even though it's kinda late into the season. He said the section leader of the clarinets would help me, that he's pretty good. I'm kinda nervous."

  
"Oh, don't be," Leo tried to smile as warmly as he could, "As it turns out, I'm section leader of the clarinets. You'll be working with me."

  
"Oh, you are? Well then, that should be easy! I can just walk across the street for practice!"

  
"Yeah, it'll be no problem. Plus, I have a really good group of friends. They're really excited to meet the new guy."

 

Jim smiled excitedly, "Great! I love meeting new people."

  
Leo noted how much more excited and happy Jim looked then compared to how shy and scared he looked as he unpacked the night before.

  
He tried to push the thought away. "Uh, what class do you have first? I can help you find it."

  
Jim pulled his schedule out of his pocket and unfolded it. "Umm, Human Anatomy. With Mr. M'Benga."

  
"Really?" Leo said, coming closer to look at Jim's schedule. "That's what I have! What are the chances..."

  
"You any good at it?"

  
Leo looked sheepish. "I'm good at all my classes. I want to be a surgeon, though, so I'd better be good at this one."

  
"A surgeon? Ol' sawbones, eh?" Jim laughed.

  
Leo raised an eyebrow, "It's the first time I've gotten that one when I tell someone what I want to be."

  
Jim laughed again. They decided they'd better get to class before the bell rang.

  
Mr. M'Benga was actually pretty excited to have a new student. Leo and Jim got there rather early, as it turned out, and only a few other students were in the classroom yet.  
"Mr. M'Benga?" Leo approached his desk, Jim following close behind.

  
M'Benga looked up form his work. "G'morning, Leo!"

  
"Mornin'. Uh, this is Jim Kirk, he's new here."

  
M'benga's gaze shifted to Jim. His smile brightened. "A new student, eh?" He got up and came round his desk, shaking Jim's hand.  
"That's right, sir." Jim said.

  
"Well, welcome to Riverside High!"

  
"Thank you," Jim smiled but he seemed strained to Leo.

  
M'Benga said he was glad to meet Jim and let him and Leo sit down. Students began filing in when the bell finally did ring and their gazes looked curious as they fell on Jim. Nyota came in with the crowd and seated herself on the side of Leo that Jim wasn't next to.

  
"Hey Leo...who's this?" She asked politely.

  
"This is Jim Kirk, the new clarinet player Pike told us about. Jim, this is Nyota, she's a drum major."

  
Jim smiled at her. "Hello!"

  
Nyota smiled back, not nearly meeting the energy at which Jim had greeted her. "Hello, nice to meet you."

  
"You too," Jim's smile radiated. Leo couldn't help but feel as though he were in the presence of the sun. Jim looked back to Leo, "Does everyone in Band know I'm coming?"

  
"Only a few people, why? Does that bother you?"

  
Jim shook his head vigorously, "No, no, no. I'm just not used to being the new kid anywhere. I mean I was once before but...." Jim trailed off as though he'd gotten into a topic he wished not to discuss.

  
"Well, it's okay," Nyota reassured him, "people in Band will be nice to you. And the clarinet section is very accepting. Plus, you've got Leo here and he's..." Nyota glanced at Leo who shot daggers at her, "he's sometimes not grumpy."

  
Jim chuckled good-naturedly. "That's good to hear, I guess. A sawbones shouldn't be too grumpy." Leo shifted his gaze to Jim and it softened a little as he noticed how Jim's eyes crinkle a little when he smiles.

  
M'Benga called the class to attention. "Good morning! As you all may have noticed, we've had the pleasure of receiving a new student. Mr. Jim Kirk. Would you mind standing up and telling us a little about yourself?"

  
Jim looked surprised and looked to Leo and Nyota helplessly. Nyota silently urged him to get up so he did.

  
"Er-I'm not sure what to say, sir."

  
"Well...where did you come from? Why did you move here?"

  
Jim fidgeted a little, which seemed out of character but how would Leo know, he's only know the guy a few hours. It did seem reminiscent of his attitude around the man Leo assumed was his father.

  
"Well, I come from Georgia. I...moved here because my mother got a job out here. It's not that exciting of a story." Jim tried to laugh it off. Leo glanced around the room and his peers looked as though they took pity on the poor guy. Nobody likes standing up in front of strangers and giving out personal information. Leo even felt bad for him.

  
"Well, thank you Jim. You can have a seat now. I hope everybody makes Jim feel welcome today! Now, lucky for him, we're just starting a new unit today so there's nothing too bad to catch up on. Open your books to page 556..."

  
"Psst," Leo hissed at Jim.

  
Jim turned his head from his new text book. He raised his eyebrows at Leo.

  
Leo gave him a look of pity and mouthed, "Sorry."

  
Jim smiled softly. He shrugged and pursed his lips. The two shared a momentary glance before returning to their books. Leo decided he liked the new guy, he could tell the kid could be hyper but he was serious when he needed to be.

 

Leo invited Jim to sit with him and his friends at lunch. The whole crew was there--Nyota, Spock, Christine, Pavel, Hikaru, and Hikaru's boyfriend Ben (who wasn't in Band but he was in journalism and often took pictures of the band at competitions. That was how he and Hikaru met).

  
Christine sat on one side of Leo, Jim the other. Then Nyota sat beside Jim, Spock beside her, Scotty, Pavel, Hikaru, then Ben. They all asked Jim questions and seemed very interested in him.

  
"Why'd you move here?"

  
"Mom got a new job."

  
"Do you have any siblings?"

  
"One, a big brother, Sam."

  
"What does he do?"

  
"He's going to community college."

 

"What does he study?"

  
"Astrophysics."

  
"What do you wanna study?" This was from Leo.

  
"Astrophysics."

  
"Why?"

 

"I like space!"

  
"Did you have a girlfriend back home?" Christine asked that.

  
"Not...recently. I've had a few girlfriends and boyfriends though, but not when I moved."

  
Jim answered question after question. He seemed to thrive off of it, Leo noticed. He really liked the attention and socializing. Leo couldn't imagine being like that. Eventually, he got up to throw his tray away and get a snack.

  
Christine smiled at Leo. "What?" He demanded.

  
Christine shrugged. "He's kinda cute."

  
"Hm," Leo looked away, "Hadn't noticed."

  
Christine smirked. "Well I did."

  
"Good for you."

  
Jim returned with a cookie. "So, Bones, what's practice gonna be like?"

  
Nobody answered. Everybody gave one another confused looks. "Bones," Jim nudged Leo with his elbow.

  
Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "Am I Bones?"

  
Jim chuckled. "Yeah, 'cause you wanna be a surgeon. A sawbones, you know. It fits."

  
Nyota smirked now. "I like it," She said through an affectionate smile.

  
Leo grimaced and blushed all at once. "Whatever. What was your question?"

  
"What's practice gonna be like? I've only met Pike once, he seemed cool. My other director was a hardass."

  
"Mr. Pike is his own brand of hardass," Pavel said through his thick Russian accent, which fascinated Jim when he was introduced to him.

  
"Is he?" Jim asked, biting into his cookie. "He seemed chill to me."

  
"He's not a hardass, Pavel, he's just strict sometimes. And maybe if you'd stop goofing off all the time during practice, you'd know that. You only think he's a hardass 'cause he gets onto you." Leo frowned.

  
Hikaru spoke up, "No, he is a hardass a lot of the time. He just favors you, so you think he's a nice guy."

  
"Shut up, Hikaru."

  
Hikaru shook his head and laughed, "Sounds like he already likes Jim here anyway, so you probably have nothing to worry about. How does he know you're so good anyway?"  
"He watched my old band at a competition last year. I had a solo and I guess he liked it a lot. I used to get solos a lot but he informed me I'd have to fight for them here. I'm guessing he was referring to you, Bones."

  
Leo blushed again at the nickname. "Yeah, well you're gonna have to fight hard. If there's a clarinet solo I almost always get it...not to brag. It's just a fact."

  
"Hey," Jim put his hands up defensively, "I didn't say I was gonna steal them from you. I doubt if I'm even half as good as you."

  
Leo blushed harder. "Well, lots of people are better than me...Hikaru's not bad."

  
"Not as good as you, though." Hikaru said.

  
"Whatever."

  
Jim turned to Christine suddenly. "What do you play?"

  
Christine smiled sheepishly. "I don't play anything, I'm captain of colorguard."

  
"You guys have a colorguard? We didn't have one at my old school."

  
"Really?" Christine said indignantly, "That's stupid. How can you have marching band without one?"

  
"That's what I thought, but I guess not enough people were interested in it."

  
"Hm..." Christine grunted, looking angry.

  
"Well, I'm more excited then. This band sounds a lot better than my old one."

 

It was cooler than usual for practice that afternoon. Fall was coming soon and Leo couldn't have been more excited. It was his favorite season.

  
Jim showed up to practice with his clarinet and an oversized hoodie. Leo couldn't help but think he looked cute...but he pushed the thought away. He liked the kid, but so far he'd threatened his position as section leader and given him a dorky nickname. He could tell this would be one wild ride of a friendship, if it even developed into that. It seemed as though it would, since Jim had already latched onto him as he headed to the field with Pavel and Hikaru as he did most days.

  
"Hey, Bones, are we gonna start practicing after this? I mean the music, Pike gave it to me and he says you'll help me catch up."

  
Leo thought of all the homework he had to work on but put the thought out of his head. "Yeah, I can drive you home, if you want. I can even drive you to school, so your brother doesn't have to."

  
Jim smiled softly. "You don't have t-"

  
"I'm going to," Leo said and that was that.

  
+

  
Practice felt longer than usual to Leo. He wasn't used to having to teach people, he was just used to getting onto people who knew how to do something but weren't doing it well.

  
Jim learned quickly, though, and Leo didn't expect any less. He knew Jim was smart the moment he met him.

 

Leo did drive Jim home that night--well, to his house to practice but it was right across the street anyways.

  
Eleanora and Jo took a liking to Jim. Jo invited him to play outside with her and her friends to which he politely declined ("Oh, not today, I'm pretty busy. Raincheck?") and Eleanora offered him something to drink but he insisted he wasn't thirsty.

  
"Can we go practice now?" Leo asked hastily; he was in a hurry, after all, he had homework to do.

  
"Go ahead, boys," Eleanora excused them with a smile. Off they went up to Leo's room. Leo sat on the windowsill couch, as he usually did to practice, with his stand in front of him and his clarinet on his lap.

  
Jim stood awkwardly aside. "Um...I didn't bring a stand."

  
"Oh, that's right..." Leo bit his lip in thought, "...well we can share, we have the same part anyway. Come on." Leo patted the spot next to him as he scooted over. It wasn't a lot of space but it was just enough.

  
Jim sat down. He looked behind himself out the window. "Wow, Bones, you have a perfect view of my house."

  
Leo tried not to blush. He felt embarrassed, as though Jim knew he watched the Kirk family unpack. "Have I?" He asked innocently, "I don't look out the window much."  
Jim chuckled. "I do. All the time. Wish I had a set up like this."

  
Leo smiled lightly at his new friend. Then, he faltered for words. "Uh-er-we'd better get started learning this. I heard you trying to match notes on the field, but it's really not the same. It'll be better to practice like this." Leo started flipping through the pages and settled on the first one. "We've got kind of a lot of rests-I mean, Clarinets always do-why don't we start where we first come in, here, at measure 11? Uhh...note the 3/4 measure and the flats-"

  
"Woah, Bones, you're kind of rushing," Jim huffed a breathy laugh and ran his hand through his hair, "You in a hurry?"

  
Leo shrugged. "Sorta, I have homework."

  
"Oh...if you want, I can look through the music on my own and ask questions? I don't wanna take away from your time."

  
"Well, then I'm not really teaching you, am I?"

  
"Do I really need to be taught, Bones? I'm probably at the same level as you. You're just s'posed to help me."

  
Leo blinked, realizing he was right. He contemplated. "Yeah, okay. That'll work. And stop calling me Bones."

  
Jim smirked. "I don't think so, I kinda like it...Bones." His eyes glimmered mischievously. Leo glared at him but got up and moved to his desk to start his work.

  
About ten minutes later, Jim began playing the music. Leo could tell he was sight reading a lot of it, but he was admittedly a great player. He played the whole piece in one go, only pausing a few times, and only with a few stumbles. Leo was impressed. The day had been long but he enjoyed listening to Jim's stumbling tunes. He wondered if the new guy would be even kind of nice to have around.

  
+

  
He was, for a while, nice to have around. Leo and all of his friends liked Jim. He was bold, he was confident, he could seem a bit self-centered but Leo wondered if that was some kind of facade. When they went to Leo's after practice, he was soft. His voice and laugh were soft and he was calm and even small and very enclosed in himself. It made Leo wonder more about that scar on his chin he noticed upon first meeting Jim.

  
Leo felt as though he could ask Jim about the scar. Their friendship never really had an awkward stage where they were confused about boundaries and what the other might be offended about. It was as though they were puzzle pieces that didn't exactly fit together, but their being together completed some sort of picture. Although, Leo would never have admitted that or even put it that way if he did.

  
In the beginning, Leo was kind to Jim. He thought Jim was interesting and smart, thought what he had observed of his family was odd, but mostly Jim seemed nice and well-rounded. That is, in the beginning. Over the course of two weeks, Jim had proven himself to be complex, maybe even a little emotionally stunted, and violent for someone so soft.

  
He had good intentions, Leo would admit, but he followed through the wrong way. Leo's observations began one day at lunch. He and Jim and his-well, their friends now-were sitting at the table, talking as usual.

  
Jim must've heard it or seen it out of the corner of his eye, but the next thing anyone knew he was up and accusing another boy of sexual harassment. It seemed pretty legit since when Leo looked around a boy was up and defending himself and scared looking girl was inching herself away.

  
The other boy swung the first punch, which Jim dodged. He went for the boy's stomach, his fist landing square on the boy's abdomen. The boy double over but forced himself to recover, bring his fist up and knocking Jim back by the nose. There was blood, lots of blood.

  
Jim grabbed his nose with one hand and knocked the boy to the floor with the other. Letting go of his nose and letting blood stream to his lips, he crawled on top of the boy and began pounding on him with both fists.

  
This didn't last very long before a teacher came over and pulled Jim off the boy. Jim didn't fight the teacher back, probably because he was covered now with his own blood and the boy's. He grabbed his nose again and the boy struggled to stand while another teacher helped him.

  
"What is going on?" The teacher holding Jim yelled. The cafeteria was silent.

 

Jim and the boy got ISS, although most students agreed that Jim didn't deserve it as he was defending the girl, but he put up with his punishment anyway. Leo found himself missing the kid in Human Anatomy.

  
Jim still did marching band and after practice practice. Well, really, it had turned into him playing the piece and asking Leo how Pike wanted them to play it while Leo did homework and occasionally helped. Jim would practice all the way until dinner, when Eleanora would insist upon feeding him, and then he would do his homework at the windowsill.

  
After practice this happened, the day after Jim broke his nose on the boy's fist. Leo was doing equations for Chemistry when he noticed Jim wasn't doing anything at all. He looked up to the kid to see him staring out the window to his own house.

  
It was the second time Leo caught Jim doing this but it was the first time he'd said anything. "Why do you do that?"  
Jim looked jolted out of his thoughts. "Er- do what, Bones?"

  
Leo (who'd resigned to the nickname long ago, and had actually become a little fond of it) huffed impatiently. "Well, that. You're watching your own house. Do you wanna go home?"

  
Jim laughed as though he were trying to find some way to joke his way out of this. His smile faded as he realized there was no way. His gaze dropped from Leo and back out the window. "He's out there every night. He doesn't even do anything. Sometimes he just stands and doesn't do anything at all."

 

"Who, Jim?"  
Jim hesitated. "...Frank. He's my stepfather."

  
"Oh?" Leo straightened up, now curious.

  
"A real shitty one," Jim mumbled almost under his breath. Leo wondered if he was supposed to hear.

  
"...Why?" Leo whispered.

  
Jim turned his head back to Leo, now wearing a big, sad smile. He shook his head and looked back down to his work, began writing again.

  
Leo woke up the next morning to find that he'd fallen asleep on his desk and Jim had fallen asleep at the window sill. Leo noted that all Jim's work was put back in his bag and it looked as though he fell asleep while watching out the window.

  
Something about it made Leo feel sad, made him notice that scar of Jim's more than usual.

  
Leo stood up, stretched, and yawned. It was finally Saturday after such a long week. His moving around must've woken up Jim who began to stir and opened his eyes.

  
"Mornin', Sunshine," Leo said to him, laughing.

  
Jim sat up and stretched, rubbing his eyes. "What? Good morning. Sorry I kinda slept over."

  
Leo shrugged. "I can see how walking all the way across the street can be so exhausting."

  
"Shut up, Bones, I was tired. And your couch thing is comfy," Jim threw a pillow at Leo when he wouldn't stop laughing. "Shut up."

  
"Hey, Bones, Mom wants to know if you and Jim want anything for breakfast." Leo turned around to see Jo standing in the entrance to his bedroom.

  
"Hey, only Jim calls me Bones, he's the only one with the annoying persistence to. And how did she even know he stayed?"

  
Jo shrugged, "Unless he crawled out the window last night, he had to've."

  
"Oh...well, sure, we'll be down in a minute."

The two stayed in Leo's room for a while longer, discussing the music Jim was working on and the competition which was a week away. Not long after, they smelled eggs and bacon and decided to head downstairs.

  
Eleanora greeted Jim with a smile. "Good morning, you two! Hope you slept well?"

  
"Yup," Leo responded, sitting down in front of his food.

  
"I did, ma'am, sorry for staying over without permission. I fell asleep by accident." Jim apologized.

  
He exchanged a knowing glance with Leo, they both knew he just didn't want to go home although Leo wasn't exactly sure why.

  
"Oh, it's perfectly fine, dear! You're welcome any time!"

 

Jim smiled before Eleanora continued. "You know, I think I like you better than that other fellow Leo brings home sometimes. Nyota's boyfriend?"

  
"Spock?" Leo cocked an eyebrow.

  
"That's the one! No offence, dear, but that kid is...odd."

  
Leo shrugged. "I won't argue there. But aren't you the one who said not to judge others?"

  
"I'm not judging, Leo, it's just a fact."

  
Leo laughed into his eggs and Jim watched the two with a certain glint in his eye. The doorbell rang but nobody had the chance to answer before Pavel, Hikaru, and Ben came bumbling in together.

  
"Leo! Jim!" Pavel greeted them. "Zat new coffee place they vere building over zhe summer is finally open!"

  
"Really?" Leo asked, although it usually pissed him off a little when Pavel just barged in. Hikaru and Ben looked a little embarrassed.

  
"Yeah," Ben piped up, "we thought you'd be interested in coming with us, since you seemed excited about it before."

  
"If Jim wants to," Leo looked to his friend.

  
"Sure, I'm in!" Jim agreed.

  
Leo apologized to his mother for leaving so early before getting up to get dressed. He let Jim borrow a shirt of his before they went off to the new shop--Enterprise Brew.

  
The story behind Enterprise Brew was that the arcade that was once in the building was where Leo and his friends used to hang out at as kids. He was sad when it went out of business but now that he wasn't as into arcade games, he was excited for this new spot for he and his friends. Somewhere besides his bedroom or school.

  
As soon as they walked into the clean shop, a fresh breeze hit them. Pavel looked around excitedly. He kept pointing to places and saying "That's where so and so game was, and some other game was there, and I used to love this game that was right here!" and everybody laughed along with him.

  
They eventually found a place to sit (right where a retro asteroids game used to be, as Pavel informed them), a booth by a big window, and made up a list of who wants what. Jim was sent up to get the drinks.

 

Gradually, each of them got their drink of choice and really settled in. "Where are the others?" Jim asked.

  
Hikaru answered: "Spock and Nyota went to some movie today, Scotty's working on something probably crazy for a class of his, and Christine informed me she was on her way here..." Hikaru trailed off and smiled knowingly, looking at Jim.

  
"What?" Jim asked innocently.

  
"I dunno," Hikaru took a sip of his coffee, "Christine just seems really into you."

  
Jim scoffed. "Doubt it."

  
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

  
"What?" Jim's voice got high.

  
"How could you not see it? She's always touching your shoulder and shit at lunch. And that day you beat that creep up, she seemed real impressed."

  
Jim shrugged. "So what?"

  
"So? Why don't you say something to her?"

  
"Cause," Jim played with his cup, "I don't even like her like that."

  
"Why not?"

  
"Why should I? Damn, I haven't even known her that long."

  
"You haven't known me that long. What does that mean?" Leo spit it out. He didn't really know what he meant by it. Maybe it was something to do with the fact that most the people he ever loved left him in some form or another and he couldn't help but feel betrayed by Jim's sentiment that time as anything to do with how two people connect.

  
"It doesn't mean anything, Bones! You're like my best friend, who cares how long we've known each other! I just don't like Christine like that."

  
Something warm rose in Leo's chest. He couldn't remember a time he'd been referred to as a best friend. The rest of the table was watching their quabble a little awkwardly, as though something were being revealed to them they hadn't expected.

  
The moment didn't last too long because Christine walked through the door and waved at them.

  
No matter what, though, Leo couldn't stop thinking about how Jim somehow became his best friend without his realizing and how good it made him feel. He couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day, even when the group decided to go to the movies and then to the mall and when they hung out at the park until it got dark and they could see the stars. He didn't care about anything that happened all day, except that somewhere along the line Jim Kirk became the sun and Leo felt as though he were the Earth being warmed by him.

  
+

  
Leo stopped in the middle of the street when he drove Jim home from the park that night. He was going to let Jim off and then pull into his own driveway and go.  
Jim just sat in the car, though.

  
"What are you doing, Jim?" Leo asked, eyebrow raised, "Don't you wanna go home?"

  
"Yeah, it's just that..." Jim looked panicked for a moment before grabbing at his shirt collar, "I still have your shirt."

  
"Just keep it. I hardly ever wear it anyway. Don't your folks want you to come home?"

 

Jim shrugged, dropping the shirt collar. "I dunno. He'll be mad I didn't come home last night."

  
Leo's stomach churned. What was that supposed to mean? He licked his lips before whispering: "Frank?"

  
Jim diverted his gaze and nodded ever so slightly.

  
Leo felt nervous, but he had to confront the issue. "Jim, does Frank...?"

  
Jim breathed a heavy sigh before turning his gaze back to Leo, just like he'd done the night before, and flashing a huge smile. "I'll see you tomorrow or Monday or something, Bones." With that, he climbed out of the car and went up his driveway.

  
Leo waited anxiously for him to get inside. He wasn't sure what any of this meant but he pulled into his driveway, climbed tiredly out of the car, and dragged himself to his room, to his bed. His dreams were filled with Jim, the coffee shop, and marching band.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim and Leo become closer  
> Also the first competition n a lil fluff just a lil :-)
> 
>  
> 
> I know it's been a while since I posted the first chapter, but ironically enough marching band was kind of in the way of writing this. The season's over tho so I might have more time to update! Thanks for reading :)))

Leo grew used to Jim coming over unexpectedly. He never demanded to do anything with Leo, mostly they just sat in his room and did homework or hung out and complained about whatever they wanted to complain about. Leo didn't know why Jim never wanted to be home, why he always insisted on staying after school when he could and then heading to Leo's house afterwards. He didn't know why he ended up spending the night so often or why Leo knew nothing of his family. He didn't even know why he'd never been invited to Jim's house. He'd been to all of his other friends' houses.

  
Jim's bruises from the incident in the cafeteria wore off quickly, although Jim didn't even acknowledge them. In fact, he seemed used to them. He didn't even talk about the fight after it happened despite how many people tried to talk to him about it. He acted like it wasn't a big deal to go around with bruises and cuts. Something about that worried Leo deep in the pit of his stomach. It also made him wonder how he came to care so much about somebody he'd only known for a month or so.

  
It must have happened somewhere in the middle of his daily routine coming to always involve Jim Kirk. First, he would wake up and text Jim all throughout his morning routine. Then, Jim would come over and sometimes eat breakfast if there was time before they went to school together. After school, Leo would wait for Jim in the band room so they could walk to the field together, then, when practice was over, they would head home together and do homework or practice music. Sometimes, Jim would accidentally fall asleep, although Leo wondered whether or not it was truly an accident. Either way, Leo couldn't remember ever not minding the constant prescence of another person ever in his life. He even got comments that he seemed a lot less grumpy these days, which Leo openly detested, but he couldn't help but absorb these observations of him and correlate them to the coming of Jim Kirk. For the first time in his life, despite all the friends he had acquired and had become acceptably close to, Leo had a best friend.

  
+

  
The day before the competition, Jim was over at Leo's house. Leo was trying to get something done that Saturday so he wouldn't have to cram it into his Sunday after the competition when Jim already told him they were going to the town fair. (Leo had fought, or tried to, saying he had homework to do. Jim just pouted and nearly whined, "C'mon, Bones, it'll be fun!" Leo couldn't find it in himself to argue, so he was going to the fair). Jim still wouldn't let Leo get his homework done, though. Bones sat at his desk, trying to do some Math while Jim sat on his bed, repeating some stuff he heard in the halls. Leo thought if this was how Jim was when they first met, he might have thought the boy was vapid and superficial. On the contrary, Leo found him to be intelligent but he still felt as though he didn't really know the kid. Leo also found Jim was secretive, that any time Leo mentioned anything about his family or his life before Riverside, Jim would avoid answering. Although, Leo would admit he wasn't the most open person. When Jim asked him questions about when he was a kid, Leo answered, and he told Jim about Jocelyn, but he never talked about his dad to Jim, so he had some empathy toward him for being secretive. Maybe there was something in Jim that couldn't just be talked about so easily.

  
Jim had a Nerf ball Leo played with when he was a little boy and he was tossing it in the air and catching it as he spilled the gossip others had told him. He said something about some girl who failed all her classes until finals, where she passed them all with D-'s and how a boy who was in his gym class had a girlfriend who was in college and who cheated on him a lot but the boy was in denial about it (Jim told Leo he thought that was one of the saddest things he'd heard all day) and then there was the girl who got her foot stuck in the toilet last year and her parents transferred her to a different school because of the relentless bullying of her peers. Jim kept going on and on and on, as though he didn't know how to stop and breathe, as though he really found all of this interesting. Leo hardly noticed, though, as he focused mostly on his homework and had gotten used to Jim's continual and excited talking as background noise.

  
That's why Leo's pen stopped when a full five minutes passed without any noise besides his own scribbling and he thought maybe Jim got up and left and Leo didn't notice at all. He turned around to see Jim fidgeting with the ball and biting his lip, uncharacteristically quiet. Leo's eyebrow crept up his forehead as he watched his suddenly solemn friend. "You okay, Jim?"

  
Jim's head popped up, eyebrows raised. He looked startled and like he hadn't noticed his own speaking had stopped and he was the only noise in the room at one point. Leo thought it looked like he was trying to force a smile for a second when he let his lips drop once more to a frown and his eyes drop back to the ball. He swallowed and shrugged and was quiet for so long Leo wondered if he would ever speak again or if they would sit like this for the rest of the night. Then, he cleared his throat and fidgeted a little more.  
"I don't know, Bones, it's just..." Jim bit his lips as he tried to figure out what he was trying to say, "It's just...do you think people talk about me like that?"

  
Leo was surprised at the question. Jim came off as the kind of person to not really care if others talked about him. To people who didn't really know him, he had an "I don't give a fuck" personality and not like that seemingly small boy Leo had witnessed a month ago unpacking into his new house. Leo cleared his throat now and clicked his pen a few times nervously. "I don't know, Jim...why should they? What do you suppose they would say?"

  
Jim shook his head. "I don't know...I don't know. It doesn't matter, forget I asked. Just drop it." Leo's eyebrows knitted together as he watched the kid try to pull another smile to his face. He scowled at Jim.

  
"Did something happen, Jim? Did somebody say something about you?" Leo watched as Jim avoided Leo's eyes. He wondered how Jim came to be so complex or if he was born like that. Had he always been cheerful and then suddenly looking broken and steamrolled over? Did his brother find it strange, did his parents find it strange, or was it natural because that was Jim Kirk for you?

  
Jim shook his head again. "No, nobody said anything, it's just that..." Jim trailed off. He was quiet for a long time again and Leo wondered if he should break the silence or if he should give Jim time. Then, Jim looked up again with his naturally forced smile that Leo became accustomed to and dropped the ball. "You almost done with your homework? I'm hungry."

  
Leo wasn't done but he went out to eat with Jim anyways mostly because he was worried about him. It wasn't the first time Jim was on the edge of telling Leo something when he decided to back out and change the subject.

  
That night, Jim went to his own house to sleep. It wasn't really that he wanted it to, it was mostly that Sam came by and told him he needed to come home because their stepfather was upset with him that he'd been gone so much. When Sam said that, Jim shrank back in a way Leo wasn't accustomed to seeing.  
"Is he mad?" Jim asked.

  
A look of terrible pity flashed across Sam's face, but it passed so quicky Leo wondered if he'd imagined it. Same shook his head softly. "No, he's not mad. He just wants you to come on home for the night."

  
Leo and Jim said their good-byes and see-you-tomorrows before Jim followed Sam out. Leo went up to his room and watched contemplatively out the window at the two as they crossed the street. All the time with Jim it felt as though something was going on that Leo didn't know anything about. Leo didn't know if he had the right to know what was going on, all he was was the best friend. He still couldn't help but worry, though. There was something for Jim that he felt which he didn't feel for any of his other friends.

  
Leo got ready for bed and slid under the covers to go to sleep with that thought in mind. He wasn't sure what it meant but he had a worrisome guess which he pushed to the edges of his mind until he finally drifted to sleep. He had a long day coming up.

  
+

  
Leo was only asleep a few hours when he woke up to some rustling outside his room. It was coming from the window. Leo wanted to assume it was birds or something, considering he slept on the top floor of the house. It didn't sound like birds, though, it sounded like something heavy on the tree branch just outside his window.

  
Leo was frightened, although he was reluctant to admit it, and laid still under his warm covers, his breath hitching as his heart rate picked up. He could hear whatever it was come closer to the window. Then, no sound came for a while and Leo thought maybe he'd imagined it or he was dreaming.

  
Just as he had that thought, the window began sliding open slowly and Leo stiffened. He opened his mouth to call out a shaky "Who's there?" but no noise would come out. A part of him was hoping this person- this robber? Murderer?- would believe he wasn't there if he was still enough. He hid his head under his covers as the window was pulled up all the way and listened as somebody clambered not so elegantly through. It was as though this person didn't care if they were caught. Or maybe Leo's plan had worked and they didn't think anyone was in the room.

  
Nothing happened for a long time. The person slid the window back down, slowly, and Leo could make out the sounds of somebody kicking their shoes off. Did this person think they lived there? Leo stayed as still as possible. Any stranger who was comfortable in a house that wasn't their's was comfortable murdering a boy.

 

Just then, a heavy hand laid gently on Leo's shoulder and Leo jumped. Before he could say or think anything, a familiar voice whispered, "Bones?"

  
Leo, filled with anger and embarrassment from head to toe, pulled the covers off his head and scowled. He whispered hastily. "Christ, Jim, what the fuck do you think you're doing? Dammit, Jim, do you think you can just come here whenever the hell you want at any fucking time of the day or night and just come into my room and scare the shit out of me? Jesus Chr-"

  
Leo cut himself off when he heard Jim sniffling. His voice was gentler now, "Jim?"

  
Jim sniffled again and said, "Sorry, Bones, I didn't know I'd scare you. I just didn't have anywhere else to go." His voice was shaky and scared and vulnerable.

  
"What happened?" Leo asked. Jim didn't answer so Leo got up out of bed and turned on the lights. It took him a minute to adjust but when he did, he was astonished to see what he found.

  
Jim was bloodied and bruised. He was sniffling because of the blood coming out his nose and he had a new shiny black eye. His cheek was bruised, his eyebrow was cut, the scar on his chin looked less noticeable in the mess. Leo was afraid of what he might be hiding under the jacket he wore.

  
Before anybody could speak, Leo was down on the floor in front of Jim, next his bed, and had pulled his first aid kit out from under his bed. He reached out to hold Jim's face in his hands and inspect them. Jim flinched at the touch but settled down into it. Maybe Leo's hands lingered for too long and maybe Jim let his head rest in them a little to heavy, but that wasn't something that needed to be talked about.

  
"Am I okay, Bones?" Jim whispered, which felt oddly out of place now that the light was on.

  
"Yeah, you're gonna be okay. I need to get something to clean that blood off your face, just stay right here. And be quiet." Leo was worried when there was no sarcastic remark from Jim. Something bad had happened.

  
He went to the kitchen and got a damp towel and a dry one as quietly as possible. He came back up and sat criss cross in front of his battered friend. Jim settled down into the same position, moving closer to Leo. Leo held a firm hand on Jim's chin with one hand as he used the other one to gently clean up the blood. Every once in a while, he would hit a bruise and Jim would wince and he would apologize but other than that, the only noise was coming from Leo's tired heavy breathing Jim's breathing evening out.

  
Leo got some ice for Jim's bruises and bandaged up his cuts. He put everything else up and pulled Jim up to his feet with him, sitting the both of them down on his bed. Jim made to lie down, ice pack still in hand, when Leo stopped him. "What are you doing? You haven't even told me what happened yet."

  
Jim yawned. "Bones, I'm so tired."

  
"I know, but I think a deserve an explanation, hm? Was it the guy from the cafeteria again? Was it someone else? You can't just go out picking fights with anyone and expect to get away with it, ya know, you can't just go get yourself all beat up and expect me to clean you up in the middle of the night with no explanation."

  
Jim was quiet. He wouldn't look Bones in the eye and took the ice pack from his eye to start fidgeting with it. "It was...well, he gets mad soemtimes," Jim started quietly. His voice was softer than usual, he shrank into himself almost. "He gets drunk a lot and I screw up a lot and he gets mad and he hits me and throws things at me and throws me at things and it's my fault it's my fault." Jim's eyes should have been filled with tears, but Leo had the feeling he'd spent the last seventeen years learning not to cry.

  
"...Who does this?" Leo's voice was as soft as he could make it. He knew the answer, and Jim knew he knew the answer, but it needed to be said aloud.

  
It took a long time before Jim could pull his gaze up to Leo and speak. "It's...Frank."

  
Leo's breath hitched. "Your stepfather?"

  
Jim nodded.

  
"Oh, Jim." Leo shook his head, devastated. Jim looked away, biting his lip. "Where's your mom at through all this?"

  
Jim shook his head now. "She's always gone somewhere for work I guess. She finds any excuse not to be home."

  
Leo sighed. They sat in silence for a while as this information sunk into Leo. All Jim had was an abusive stepfather and older brother.

  
"What about Sam?" Leo whispered.

  
Jim shrugged. "Sam's never done anything wrong. He's a good kid, and he stands up to Frank which Frank likes. I just can't...I'm too scared. He doesn't like that, he thinks it makes me weak but I just don't like fighting, Bones, I don't want to hurt anybody."

  
Leo hesitated and bit his lip. "I know that, Jim, I know that..." He placed his hand on Jim's chest, pushing him back gently. "Get some sleep, Jim, we've got a busy day tomorrow."

  
Jim let himself lay back as Leo took the ice pack and pulled the covers up over him. He went to put the ice pack back in the fridge and came back up to see Jim lying still as ever in his bed, the light still on. Assuming he'd fallen asleep, Leo turned the light off and grabbed a throw blanket to sleep on the windowsill couch.

  
He heard stirring from the bed as he settled down and then Jim's voice quietly whispering. "What was that, Jim?" Leo asked.

  
Jim whispered louder, "What are you doing?"

  
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm getting ready to go to sleep."

  
"Over there?"

  
Leo thought it odd that Jim would ask, since Jim usually slept there when he ended up spending the night. "Yeah?"

  
The two were quiet and Leo tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in, since he couldn't lay down all the way. Then, Jim spoke up again. "Will you come sleep with me, Bones?"

  
"What?"

  
"Will you come over here to sleep? I don't want to make you sleep on that cramped couch."

  
Leo stopped moving around to think about it. Then, he got up, deciding a bed with Jim was better than no bed (or maybe even better than a bed with no Jim) and got under the covers. The bed was rather small for two people, but they made it work. Leo could feel Jim breathing on his neck, which was relaxing enough, and he drifted off to sleep pretty quickly.

 

When Leo woke up to his alarm the next morning, he was facing a sleeping Jim. He also noticed how Jim's hand was holding the front of Leo's shirt, the fabric all crumpled up in his fist. Leo couldn't help but blush a little. He turned his alarm off and tried to free himself from Jim's grip but Jim only held on tighter, trying still to sleep.

  
But they had things to do and places to be, so Leo sighed and placed a hand on Jim's shoulder and shook him softly. "Jim?" He said, "Jim, wake up, we've got that big first competition today."

  
Jim's eyes fluttered open sleepily. His face was still battered, although it was looking better than it had when he first arrived, but mostly he just looked groggy. He took his hand from Leo's shirt and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, wincing as he remembered the bruises he'd acquired the night before. "Bones?"

  
"Mornin'."

  
Jim let his head sink into his pillow and pulled the covers up to his chin. "G'Morrin'." He slurred.

  
"Jim, we've got to get up and get ready."

  
Jim nodded. "I'm up, I'm up."

  
Leo watched him for a few seconds but knew he was drifting off again. He stood up and, being the asshole they both knew he was, he grabbed the cover and yanked it off of Jim.

  
Jim''s eyes shut tighter as he curled in on himself more. "I know, Bones, I know, I'm getting up I'm awake."

  
Leo laughed easily. "No you're not, Jim, come on! Get up."

  
Jim groaned but the realization that he wasn't going to win must have hit him because he slowly got up and stretched. Leo threw the cover back onto his bed, facing Jim. "Now how am I gonna explain this to my mom?" Jim looked sorrily at Leo.

  
The two headed downstairs to eat breakfast, where Eleanora was already sitting and sipping at her coffee. Joanna had been woken up but had fallen asleep again on the couch. Eleanora looked up when Leo and Jim came in, her expression changing from a warm smile of welcome to a deep frown of worry and panic.

  
"Jim! What happened?" She got up but didn't move.

  
"Nothing, Mrs. McCoy, I just got into a quarrel with some guy last night. It's okay, Bones fixed me up." Jim lied so easily it scared Leo. He was so obviously used to it.

  
Jim and Leo poured themselves bowls of cereal and sat down to eat with Eleanora, who was still looking at Jim with deep concern. As they settled in to eat, the doorbell rang. Leo assumed it was Hikaru or Pavel or maybe even Scotty so he and Jim got up to answer the door together.

  
Leo opened the door to reveal Sam standing there, holding a pile of clothes. He looked surprised at both Leo and Jim, as if he wasn't expecting anybody to actually answer. Leo noted the lack of a beating Sam had taken.

  
"Sam?" Jim said.

  
"Hey, Jim. You ran out so fast yesterday I couldn't get a word in edgewise. I thought you'd come here and I know you've got that competition today so...here are your shorts and shirt."

  
Jim took the clothes without looking at Sam. Leo felt as though he was intruding on something. Then, Sam piped up. "Jim, can I talk to you for a second?"

  
Jim looked at Leo and then to Sam. "I guess so."

  
Jim stepped out on the porch and Leo made to close the door and give them privacy when Jim grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out there with him. Sam sighed.

  
"Jim, can we talk in private?"

  
"Anything you have to say, you can say in front of Bones." Jim still hadn't let go of Leo's wrist, his grip actually grew tighter. Leo closed the door behind them.

  
Sam crossed his arms. "Jim, why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn?"

  
Jim shrugged. "I'm not being stubborn, I just want Bones out here."

  
Leo tried to wrench his wrist out of Jim's grip. "Jim, I think I should go. It sounds like you need privacy and I just want to finish my breakfast."

  
Jim looked at Leo for a while, still holding his wrist. He didn't look angry or upset but mostly scared. He didn't want to have this conversation, obviously, but Leo knew he needed to have it.

  
Jim let go of his wrist and Leo looked at him apologetically. He went back inside after saying bye to Sam and sat down to eat his breakfast, explaining to his mom that Jim forgot some stuff at his house and Sam had to talk to him.

  
Eleanora took that as enough of an explanation, although Leo knew she was still worried about Jim's injuries.

  
Eventually, after Leo was dressed and ready for the competition (well, kind of, really all he did was put pajama pants on over his shorts and throw on his show shirt), Jim came back in with Hikaru trailing after him.

  
"Hey, Leo, you ready to go?" Hikaru asked.

  
Leo was sitting at the dinner table, looking over the music he'd had memorized anyways (he just liked to go over something solid before a parade), and looked up as the two boys came in.

  
"Hey, yeah we've just gotta wait for Jim."

  
Jim rushed to get ready, not finished his now soggy cereal. Leo insisted he'd be more comfortable if he had some pajamas so he threw on some of Leo's. The trio left in Leo's car. They were to meet at the school and be bused to the beginning area of the parade map.

  
Pike was rushing around, trying to get everything and everyone together when they arrived at the school.

  
"Leo, you're a little late, can you figure out if all the clarinets are here and get them on the bus?" Pike commanded when he spotted them walk into the band room. He threw a questioning glance at Jim but was in too much of a rush to really ask anything. It seemed they were running more late than Leo thought.

  
He messaged the clarinet group chat, asking who was there and who wasn't. Finally, they all met in front of the bus they were assigned to piled on in. It looked as though most the others assigned to the bus were already there, including Nyota who sat in the very back seat.

  
Leo filed back there, Jim and Hikaru following closely behind. Hikaru sat down next to Nyota and Jim and Leo sat across the aisle from them.

  
"Spock's not on this bus?" Leo asked.

  
Nyota rolled her eyes. "No, he was assigned to bus three."

  
"oh haha, too bad," Hikaru laughed sympathetically.

  
"I guess it doesn't matter, really...is Ben coming?"

  
"Yeah, he's meeting us up there. His parents wanted to come watch too, so he's riding up with them. I would have gone with them, but Leo here told me it wasn't in the spirit of the first competition," Hikaru jokingly rolled his eyes at Leo and chuckled. "I don't think he would've stayed home if I begged him to. I think he lives for this shit."

  
"That's what happens when you're in love, Hikaru."

  
Hikaru blushed and the others couldn't help but smile.

  
Their bus ride was going to be two hours but they were scheduled to play pretty late. Pike just wanted to get there earlier so they would have to watch the other bands, which Leo wouldn't mind so much except that he got pretty bored watching them after four or five went on.

  
"Alright!" Pike came bouncing onto the bus with a clipboard in his hand. "I've just gotta take attendance and then we can head off."  
He called everyone's name and everyone was there so they left.

  
"Did you say this would be a two hour long bus ride?" Jim whined to Leo who sat closest to the window.

  
"Yup. Not that bad in comparison to some of the other competitions we'll be going to, but..."

  
Jim groaned. "How am I supposed to entertain myself this long?"

  
"Jim, you act like you've never gone to a competition before." Nyota giggled.

  
Jim pouted. "I have been, obviously, I just hate these long bus rides."

  
"Oh, I love them. I think they're relaxing..." Nyota sighed.

  
"They make me restless. I don't have anything to do but play around on my phone."

  
Leo settled down with his knees propped on the seat in front of him, his phone balancing on top of his knees as he prepared to watch a movie. "I usually do this."

  
"Oh, what are we watching?"

  
Leo glared at Jim but a smiled crept on his face. "Hope you like westerns."

  
Jim snorted. "I'm not even surprised."

  
Jim settled down in the same position as Leo and let his head rest on Leo's shoulder as the movie started. Leo felt his heart beat pick up and shoulder felt warm against Jim's cheek. They slept together in that cramped bed but he's blushing because Jim's head is on his shoulder, Spock would be appalled at the lack of logic.

  
Leo realized about half an hour into the movie that Jim was actually asleep. He realized this because Jim started digging his head further into the crook of Leo's neck, as if it were a fluffy pillow, and he twisted himself around to throw his arm across Leo's torso. Leo's arm was trapped between his body and Jim's.

  
"Er-Jim-"

  
"Be quiet, Bones, I'm tired." Jim mumbled so quietly Leo almost thought he was talking in his sleep.

  
Leo looked up over Jim's head at Nyota and Hikaru who had the audacity to giggle. Nyota even took a quick picture before Leo shot her a death glare. He was just glad the rest of the bus seemed so proccupied with either catching up on their own sleep or fucking around that they didn't seem to notice what was happening. Leo couldn't have been blushing harder.

  
  
Leo didn't end up finishing the movie. The next thing he knew after deciding to let Jim sleep on him was that somebody next to him was being shaken. Leo woke up drowsily and looked up to see Pike shaking Jim awake and saying "Get up, boys, we're here! Get up."

  
Leo pulled his arm out from in between himself and Jim and pushed on Jim's chest until he woke up and moved away.

  
"Sorry, sir, I guess we dozed off." Leo could feel his face getting hot.

  
Nyota was giggling behind Pike and Hikaru must have left to find Ben.

  
"Either way, you know the policy on couples sitting together, we can't have another incident like two years ago..."

  
Leo squirmed thinking about it. "Oh, no, sir, we aren't-"

  
But Pike was off when he saw someone doing something they shouldn't have been doing out the window. "Hey!" He hollered, "Don't do that! Don't be stupid!" And he was off the bus within seconds.

  
Jim stood up, stretched, and said, "I'm starved," as he made to get off the bus. Nyota grabbed Leo by the shoulder, her eyebrow raised.

  
"What was that about?" She asked, laughing almost.

  
Leo shrugged her hand off of him. "What was what about?"

  
Nyota rolled her eyes. "He was literally lying on top of you, Leo, don't play dumb. Are you guys not telling the rest of us something?"

  
Leo's eyebrows nearly met in the middle. He stared at Nyota for a while as though she were stupid before saying, "No. Why would that be happening at all."

  
Nyota smiled softly. "Because you obviously-"

  
"Nyota?"

  
The two's attention was diverted to Spock standing at the door of the bus.

  
"I'm coming." Nyota looked back at Leo with a look on her face Leo didn't quite understand before she made her way through the bus to Spock. Leo stood there for a long time, staring at where they disappeared and felt stupid and embarrassed. He wanted to say he had no idea what Nyota was talking about, but he had some idea.

**Author's Note:**

> There's my first chapter! It might be a bit until the next one since I only had time to write cos I've been sick haha oops
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to try out slow burn so I hope this sin't moving too quickly? They went from strangers to best friends fast, I know, but I didn't want to agonize over a slow, out of character friendship lmao
> 
> Hope you all liked it! Please leave kudos and comments :)


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